In 1977, 39 people were killed when the Kelly Barnes Dam burst, sending a wall of water through Toccoa Falls College in Georgia.

In 1990, about one-fifth of the Universal Studios backlot in southern California was destroyed in an arson fire.

Ten years ago: Billionaire Republican Michael Bloomberg won New York City's mayoral race, defeating Democrat Mark Green. The Federal Reserve slashed its federal funds rate, the key benchmark for overnight loans, by a half-point to 2 percent, its lowest level in 40 years. Baseball owners voted 28-2 to eliminate two major league teams by the 2002 season (however, the contraction did not occur). Playwright Anthony Shaffer, who'd written the thriller "Sleuth," died in London at age 75.

Five years ago: On the eve of midterm elections, Democrats criticized Republicans as stewards of a stale status quo while President George W. Bush campaigned from Florida to Arkansas to Texas in a drive to preserve GOP control of Congress. Kenny Chesney won entertainer of the year and Brooks & Dunn's inspirational song "Believe" won three trophies, including single and song of the year, at the 40th Annual Country Music Association Awards.

One year ago: President Barack Obama opened his 10-day Asia trip on a somber note in Mumbai, India, where he memorialized victims of devastating terror attacks two years earlier, declaring, "We'll never forget." A Yemeni judge ordered police to find Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical U.S.-born cleric, "dead or alive" after the al-Qaida-linked preacher failed to appear at his trial for his role in the killing of foreigners. (Al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in the mountains of Yemen on Sept. 30, 2011.)